Meditation – A Way To Holistic Healing and Lifestyle

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Meditation has been one of the most ancient ways of seers and yogis in the eastern culture to attain enlightenment and seek God. In today’s time it is used as a way to get rid of the effects of stressful lifestyle and other mentally taxing tasks. Meditation is useful and can be done by anyone no matter of what age. In fact, if it is started at a small age it helps to develop a child in a holistic way.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is way of slowing down our thoughts and focusing on our breathing. Usually in the normal alert state we have many thoughts which are overlapping and high energy-drainers. Such a state is called beta state where we get many thoughts whether positive or negative. Sometimes if this state is prevails for a long time it leads to depression and other mental conditions.

Meditation helps in unwinding and letting go of all the negative energy which has got accumulated within. It is a very simple exercise which anyone can do at anytime. But, for the beginners it is advised that they find a peaceful and quiet place without any disturbance for at least 20 minutes.

With practice you can do this task anywhere when you can control your thoughts and their velocity. When you find that your thoughts are going on the autopilot mode, you can take control and slow them down so that you remain calm and composed throughout your day.

How Does Meditation Work?

Our mind cannot do multi-tasking although we sometimes are proud of our multi-tasking abilities. It is just a quick task shifting ability which makes us believe that we are multi-tasking. Therefore, when we are thinking we are not focusing on our breathing. It is

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involuntary and is taken care of by our subconscious mind. Now, although you are physically still you are doing a lot of work mentally; which is thinking. This in itself is quite tiring. Many people don’t understand this.

The trick is to slow down the thought process so that we get only those thoughts which serve us the best. Meditation reverses the processes by making us focus on breathing. Now, since breathing has come into the foreground your thoughts automatically slow down and you start feeling relaxed and centered.

Sometimes the beginners are asked to focus on some thought throughout the session of meditation. Since it is quite difficult in the beginning to think about nothing, to make the process smooth this is done. With practice the alpha state (where the thoughts are less in number) is achieved easily.

What Are The Benefits of Meditation?

There are innumerable benefits from meditating regularly. Meditation has seen its application in almost all areas of life. In helps you to focus on the task at hand and give your best in whatever you do.

Top entrepreneurs have seen that their work performances have seen dramatic improvement when they started meditating. Athletes have seen that they can get into the zone much quicker and perform at their peak when they started meditating regularly.

Meditation also helps people to get rid of many of their physical ailments. Many of the physical pain and discomfort is caused by the thoughts we hoard. So, when we release those thoughts through meditation even the physical pain subsides. It also helps us to increase the longevity of our lifespan. This is the reason why some of the seers lived for so long.

By integrating meditation into your daily routine you start seeing considerable improvements in your memory and intellect. You start making better decisions in your life. You do not easily get influenced by most of the negative things. You are always proactive and not reactive. Your relationships improve as you are in control of your emotions and words.

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Many people suffer from anger management issues. Anger has ruined many opportunities and relationships. Meditation helps to take control of the reactive mind and puts the person in control throughout the situation. This helps the person to make intelligent choices which are beneficial for all.

How Can I Practice Meditation?

Meditation should be ingrained in our daily routine. It is not necessary to sit at one place and meditate for many hours. Even if you do it for a few minutes in a day it will help you to be in total control of your situations and not get carried away by the emotions.

It is better to meditate for a few minutes as soon as you wake up. During the early hours of your day your mind is yet to become totally alert and move into beta state. It is easier during the early hours of the day to experience deep relaxation and start your day feeling energized and enthusiastic. At the end of the day when you are ready to go to bed you can again spend some time to meditate.

Many people make use of some soothing and relaxation music so that it calms the mind quickly. While this can be the best way to meditate it is not always necessary. You can make use of many things to achieve what you want, but those aids should not cripple your progress during their absence. You should be able to do whatever you want regardless of the external aids. All the help you require is already within you.

What Are The Steps Involved In Meditation?

The steps are quite simple and there are no hard and fast rules to call meditation a successful meditation session. Nevertheless, if you follow some basic steps you can rest assured that you can get the most out of your session.

Step 1: Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Prefer sitting as lying down may sometimes lead you into a peaceful sleep unknowingly. The choice is yours.

Step 3: Stop all distractions for the time being. You can also ask others not to disturb for sometime while you are meditating.

Step 4: Sit in an upright position with eyes closed. When you close your eyes your other senses become more receptive and active.

Step 5: Put on your earphone if you prefer and focus on a particular thought. If not, you can only focus on your breathing. Visualize a white glowing and pure energy being inhaled and spreading throughout your body and a dark air being exhaled.

You can also focus on a particular aspect of your body to target the energy there and removing all obstacles and illnesses. (Warning: Please do not substitute meditation for your doctor. Seek medical help if required.)

Can I Apply Meditation To Improve A Specific Aspect of My Life?

Yes, meditation can be applied to any area of your life and see consistent improvements. If only relaxation is the objective you can meditate and focus on your breathing. If you want to improve a particular aspect, then focusing on that aspect will lead you to find out alternative and better solutions to the problems.

When you are not emotionally involved into the situation it becomes easier to have a bird’s eye view of the problem and look at it from various angles and perspectives. Many times when you are meditating you get the solutions to the most nagging problems or questions. Your mind is capable of giving you all the answers if you can tap into its reservoir. But to do this, you have to calm your critical mind and let go of any prejudices and reservations.

When Can I Start Meditating?

You can begin meditating today. There are no special requirements or your state of mind and health to begin meditation. In fact, the earlier you begin the better it is to achieve a healthy mind and body.